The Quest for a Perfect Apple
by she-dies-at-the-end
Summary: Apple picking in the burrows leads to a discussion between Nick and Judy about their old flames. When they are both reluctant to share stories, Nick challenges Judy to find a perfect apple in the orchard. The winner keeps their secret. The loser spills the beans. [One Shot] [WildeHoppsWeek2017]


**A/N: As stated in the description, a one shot for Rem/Aoi's WildeHoppsWeek. I picked the day 6 prompt "memories about the past."**

 **Please enjoy it. It was a blast to write and edit.**

 **And this story is dedicated to Erin.**

* * *

Everyone knew that you do not challenge Judy Hopps to something without first meeting the most stubborn rabbit on the planet. Especially a certain fox, though you'd never know it by how he spoke to her.

"So," said Nick, whilst tugged along by Judy's paw. "These are the famous Hopps orchards? They're a bit smaller than I expected. And barren."

Judy huffed in feign indignation. "What do you expect so late into the season, dumb fox?"

"Ripe, red apples as far as the eyes can see. _No one tops a Hopp._ Isn't that what you told me?"

"And no one ever will," she replied with a toothy grin. "Weren't you the one who said he wanted to go apple picking, even when we can just get them at my family's stands?"

"I believe my exact words were, _You know, I've never actually gone apple picking before._ Not, _Oh please, oh please take me apple picking, Judy. I beg you._ There's a much difference cadence in groveling for it."

Judy could only laugh and squeeze Nick's paw tighter.

One good thing about going to the orchards so late into the season was that there were no wondering eyes to scrutinize the pair. Not that they were trying to hide anything—Judy's parents had been more than accepting, even if it took time for her dad to come around—But the rest of Bunnyburrow wasn't quite so open-minded. Judy didn't care what the other rabbits thought, but Nick insisted on making as few enemies on their visit to the burrows as possible.

 _Better to keep appearances than to make adversaries_ , he had said.

Of course, the downside Nick was so keen to point out was that there were very few apples remaining on the trees. And those left behind were abandoned for a reason. Latercomers rarely found the best fruit, as Judy's parents had warned her. And most apples remaining were disgusting piñatas of bugs and rot.

Suddenly, Judy was glad they had stopped at one of her family's stands for a lunch of fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of relying on food from the orchard.

"Jeez," she muttered, kicking at a few of the apples littering the ground. "Maybe this _was_ a mistake. I can't see anything good in the trees."

"Well, the view is still pretty."

"It's a lot better when the leaves are still on the branches. There's more a bustle then too, with folks coming and going for the baked goods. Pumpkin pie and hot apple cider. And then there's the hay rides."

Most of the Hopps fields were devoted to carrots, as part of the family brand. But the acres of the northern fields were dedicated solely to the harvest experience of apples and pumpkins every autumn. Any farmer in the burrows worth his salt knew that when the tourists rushed to see the leaves change, it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up earning an extra buck.

And visitors to the farms weren't the only ones who looked forward to the experience.

"Sounds like you have a lot of memories of this place, Carrots."

"Yup. I remember when dad planted each of these trees. I was six when he started, and the apple acre sort of grew with the family from there. It's fun to come back every year and see how much it's grown. Dad plants one seedling for each new Hopp kit."

"Oh? Does that mean you have your own tree? I wouldn't mind seeing it."

"One out of three hundred and nine, yeah. Though even I haven't seen it since…"

As her voice trailed, Judy recalled why it had been six years since she had been to the apple farm. It was enough that Nick noticed the pause.

"Everything okay?"

"...Yeah, it's nothing," she replied, her ears behind her head. "Just some bad memories too."

"The _falling out an apple tree and break your leg_ kind?"

"More like the _heartbreak and teenage angst_ kind."

Judy patted the bark of a nearby honeycrisp tree, scraping the wood with her claws.

"You know how it is," she said. "Buck meets doe. Starts a high school crush. Ends poorly when she decides she wants to focus on college. Nothing complicated."

"I dunno. I think there's plenty of room for complication there."

"Well, I didn't think you'd want to hear the whole story."

"Nonsense. I like hearing you talk about yourself."

Judy considered herself fortunate that her ears were already behind her head. That spared her from Nick pointing out her obvious blush and poking fun at her.

But Nick also had a habit of shrugging off her flusters when he knew they truly bothered her. And he always knew, somehow.

It was a pattern he continued.

"Hey, like you said, I know how it goes. And I think we all have one of _those stories_ where we've done something we've regretted in a relationship. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. It's not like I need to know. Though I'm _very_ curious, mind you."

Judy sensed the opportunity to turn the tables on him.

"...So, does that mean you have one of those stories too?"

"Oh, no. You're cashing checks your bunny butt can't afford by barking up that particular tree."

"Aw, come on. You never talk about your past."

"There isn't much to say," he shrugged, releasing his grip on her a little. "And you probably wouldn't like what you'd hear anyway. Old Nick was not a nice mammal."

"Oh, please. I managed to put up with him."

"For reasons that are still unknown to me."

His paw escaped hers completely as he bundled up in the hoodie he was wearing.

In the beginning, Judy might have been worried she had hurt his feelings. But she knew better.

It was a game Nick liked to play with her. Feigning distance to encourage her to provoke him further along and coax an answer out of him. Some days, Judy wondered if it was Nick's way of subtly training her how to hustle. Like hustling was his method of communicating with her better. But she always knew the difference between playful hurt and real hurt. It showed in his eyes, which betrayed everything about Nick's masked persona.

In that moment, Nick's green eyes stared at her with an air of fondness and coyness to them, contrasting the pouted lip he was giving her.

She answered his bluff with one of her own. Ears back and eyes wide, like a child begging for candy.

"Won't you tell me the story? Pretty please?"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours first," he answered with a smile.

"No way. It's too embarrassing and stupid…"

"Then it appears we are at an impasse," Nick said. "You won't tell me your story and I won't tell you mine."

"It's not an impasse. You're just no fun."

"Ah. But I have a solution to our problem, madam rabbit. And something fun, no less."

"Oh," she replied, crossing her arms with a smile and looking on at his performance. "And what are you proposing, mister fox?"

"A game."

"A game?"

"Indeed. It's very simple, you see. We'll go our separate ways in search of apples. Whomever finds a perfect apple will be declared the winner. The loser will have to tell their little heartbreak story to the other. That sounds fun, right?"

"A perfect apple," Judy repeated the words. "What do you mean perfect?"

"I mean flawless. Perfect shape. Perfect red color. Delicious. I want the apple you think of when someone says the word _apple_. A textbook definition. That should be easy enough to find, right? Even toddlers know what a perfect apple looks like."

Judy huffed and crossed her arms at the fantasy.

"There's no such thing as a perfect apple. Not this late into the season, anyway."

"Then you'll just have to get creative, Carrots," he replied with his trademark smirk. "It will make looking through the orchard more exciting. Don't you think?"

She furrowed her brow at him. "What are you scheming?"

"Me? Scheme? Never. What makes you think I'm up to something?"

"Call it a hunch."

"I'm hurt. Hurt, I say."

"If that's what hurts you, you wouldn't be able to hustle a dime from a philanthropist much less pawsicles for a living. And whatever you say, I'm not falling for it. I learned my lesson already buying you that jumbo pop."

"What's the matter, Carrots? Chicken?"

Judy could feel a particular type of heat travel up her ears. And it wasn't a blush.

Instead, she felt more like a stick of shortfuse dynamite. It was shame and indignation over Nick's childish words. The blustering emotions boiling beneath the surface were not helped by his continued, knowing smirk.

"Well?" he asked. "Wanna play or do I win by default?"

* * *

Judy would have been proud to say such petty taunts from Nick had no effect on her at this point in their relationship.

But then she would be lying.

She stomped off through the mud in the opposite direction of Nick, cooling herself down by reminding herself that he was only playing with her. It was too small an acre to hold a grudge. And she knew Nick wasn't going to have much luck on his end of the farm either.

It was simply far too late in the season to ever hope to find a _perfect apple_.

And yes, Judy had known that from the beginning when they had set out for the orchard.

She had been expecting to find, at least, a few decent apples. Maybe one that was a tad misshapen or had a few bad spots that could be cut away. But walking amongst the trees, Judy saw the branches picked clean.

"Business has been booming…"

Privately, Judy couldn't help but wonder if the farm's success had to do with the stir she had caused in Zootopia. Fans of her exploits who migrated south to see where the famous Judy Hopps had grown up. They invaded the burrow during an already intense time of the year for the farm.

The usual apple choices were long gone.

Macintosh being the most popular, didn't even have a stem left behind. Then were the honeycrisp, sweet and Judy's favorite. And a favorite of the bees too, judging by how they buzzed happily amongst the discarded, browned mush left on the ground. Granny smith were a sourer, rarer sort that only a pawful of Hopps preferred.

Each Hopp was given a choice of what type of apple tree to grow. And some of the youngest sprouts hadn't even passed Judy in height yet.

She paused at one sign on a nearby tree. Red delicious.

"Well, he did say red and delicious…"

As with all the other trees, most of the branches were bare, especially near the bottom. Amongst the top, however, were several riper fruits. Or late-bloomers, it being so far in the season.

They were high enough up that any sane rabbit would have opted to move to the next tree. Or find a ladder.

But Judy Hopps was harebrained enough to jump for them.

She stepped back for a running start before clawing her way up the trunk. Though the peak of the apple tree was far too high for a single bound, there were plenty of branches to climb. And all her police training came in handy as Judy leapt further up the trunk.

Even when the sprigs grew narrow and she stumbled, she did not let up. It was unfitting of her to ever back down from a challenge. Even a self-imposed one.

She kept her eyes on the prize. A rather juicy looking red globe perched at the second branch to the top.

In one final push, she reached for the apple with her tippy toes before slinking back down with her prize in paw.

"Gotcha."

It was a short lived victory.

No sooner than did Judy put all her weight down on her supporting branch did it creak and groan under pressure. Even the tiny weight of a rabbit was enough to snap the wood entirely, sending Judy tumbling several feet to the hard ground.

She landed with a heavy thud on her butt, protecting her apple by holding it close like a baby.

The ringing sensation of pain traveled up her spine as her body asked her the obvious question. _What the heck were you thinking?_

"That's definitely going to bruise," she groaned, rubbing at her hindquarters.

Judy flexed her hips slightly in a few stretches, making sure she hadn't broken anything. When satisfied she had gotten away with only dirtying her fluffy, white tail, she returned her gaze to the acquired fruit.

It was as ordinary any other apple one might find on a farm, almost like the ones the pair had for lunch an hour ago. With curves in all the right places and five bumps at the bottom, it looked exceptionally average on the surface. A typical, perfect apple.

"I guess it's as good as any," Judy said to herself, tossing it in the air a few times. "Wonder if Nick had any luck."

* * *

Nick was right where Judy had left him, leaning against one of the trees with his own apple in his paw. A Macintosh.

"How'd you make out, Carrots?"

"See for yourself," Judy held up her apple with pride.

Nick smiled and held his paw out.

"Not bad. May I?"

She shrugged and tossed Nick the fruit, which he juggled for a moment as he struggled to get a grasp on it.

Once he did, Nick gave it a full combover much like he was a jeweler examining a precious gemstone. Judy watched him while tapping her foot as he inspected every corner of her apple, from the top to bottom.

First, he fiddled with it, tugging at the stem. Then he squeezed it to test its firmness. And finally he sniffed it.

"Nope," he said at last. "It's no good."

"It's no good," Judy repeated his words. "Why? What's wrong with it? It looks fine."

"Oh, sure. It _looks_ perfect on the outside. But what's inside counts too."

Nick dug his claws into the skin of the fruit, allowing him to tear apart the apple neatly in half. Judy contorted in disgust at what was in the core.

"Ugh! Worms!?"

"Looks like it," said Nick as the maggots wriggled free. "I thought it smelled iffy. Not the tastiest apple, I would think."

"Agh," Judy clawed at her tongue. "And I wanted to eat that when you were done!"

"Still can," he offered the fruit. "Want it?"

"No!"

Nick chuckled before tossing the apple away.

"I figured a farm girl like you wouldn't mind bugs so much."

"Bugs are fine. But maggots are the worst. They ruin so many crops and can sometimes kill a whole harvest. So, I hate them."

Judy took a moment to collect herself while Nick grinned. He was very pleased with himself as he tossed his own apple in the air a few times. Judy quickly realized why.

With her apple tainted by worms, that left Nick as the winner of the game by default. And him winning was almost worse than eating an apple filled with maggots. His smugness was insufferable, just like having to admit her loss.

Judy grinded her teeth as she spoke.

"Well...It looks like you won the bet."

"Wrong again, Carrots. I failed too."

He caught her by surprise by tossing his apple in her direction. Judy's trained reflexes allowed her to catch it instantly.

"It looks fine to me," she said, inspecting its shape and color.

"You're only seeing the surface level then."

"What?" she asked, holding the apple away from her at arm's length. "Does this have worms in it too?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. Just look a bit closer, Carrots."

Judy humored him with a sigh and brought the apple into her face. She then spun it around a few times.

It was on her third circle that she noticed a white sticker taped to the surface. It took her a few heartbeats to process what it meant. But when Nick's message clicked, her face morphed into a scowl.

"You cheated!"

"Hey, now. I admitted that I lost, just like you. Everything's fair and square. I just happened to keep one of the apples we had for lunch. And I didn't want to break any of the branches of a tree by trying to climb it. Foxes aren't known for their mountaineering skills, after all."

Judy groaned in disgust as she peeled off her family logo from the apple.

Nick's entry had been one of the apples from the reserved orchards, picked early in the season and treated with preservatives. It was the sort grown solely for selling, be it for wholesale or for cider. Of course it was going to look too perfect to be picked from the orchard they were in. It'd even lack a genuine taste.

"That's still a cheap hustle," she muttered, dropping the apple to the ground.

"Sorry, Carrots. Couldn't resist. If it makes you feel any better, we both lost."

"Right...So, what happens now?"

"Admittedly, I haven't thought this far ahead in the case of a tie. I was hoping you'd find something a little better than a ball of worms."

"Well, _sorry_ I'm a disappointment."

"You're not. Trust me. It's just funny. Here I was expecting to let you win."

As unfair as Nick's little trick felt, his smile always had the habit of making Judy forgive him quickly.

Perhaps teasing her was a little reminder of what he used to do for a living. But he never took it too far with her. And he knew the right things to say afterwards.

"Let me make it up to you," he said, bowing his head. "Walk with me and I'll tell you all about the time I got dumped."

* * *

"You remember what I was like back then, right?"

"Completely egocentric? Cockier than a rooster? Always had on a smirk like a crocodile?"

"Alright, alright. I get it. I wasn't a nice guy. I had a chip on my shoulders, especially in my early twenties. And there weren't exactly a lot of prospects given what I did for a living. I was far from a perfect catch. But I could act civilized when it was called for."

"I'd hope so, given our first encounter."

"You know how it is," Nick said with a smile. "One day, you just sort of stumble into someone on the streets who catches your eye. Suddenly, you spend your whole day thinking about them."

Judy let out a curious "hmm" while gripping at Nick's paw.

"It was completely superficial. She was just a cute vixen I bumped into while selling 'supplies.' I ran my mouth to impress her. Made up a bunch of stuff about who I was. Hustled her, basically, into thinking I was someone I wasn't. And she believed me. Every single word."

Judy couldn't help but feel some kinship towards the poor vixen whom she had never met. She had been on the other end of one of Nick's hustles too. And that memory showed in her glance to Nick.

"You don't have to say it," continued Nick. "I was a jerk. And it didn't end well, as one would expect. I kept it going for a while, but everyday was like wearing a mask. Like looking over your shoulder, waiting for the moment it'd all come crashing down. Until one day she finally found out about it through a slip up I made in the worst possible way."

"Did she rip you a new one?"

"No. That was the worst part. I could understand if someone wanted to scream at me for lying to them like that. But there wasn't even a single word she said to me. She just got up and left in silence. Never contacted me again. And I never saw her after that. Not that it wasn't what I deserved but…"

It was rare to see Nick give a genuine frown as he rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't one to ever show honest discomfort, if he could help it. That was all part of his motto. His mask.

It was also how Judy knew he was telling the truth when he said.

"I regret leaving things with her like I did. I really wasn't fair to her. And I'd like to think I'm a better mammal now. If I ever see her again, I'd want to apologize."

Judy smirked and squeezed his paw slightly. "I'd like to think you are too."

There was a silence between the couple as they continued to walk down the rows of apple trees, paw in paw.

It wasn't the bad kind of quiet. Just the sort that could exist between two friends when there was nothing else to say, but they could still enjoy each other's company. Though, internally, Judy was digesting Nick's story. It was another layer to the checkered past of her fox. Bits and pieces that she would sew together to see the real person he liked to keep locked away.

And there was something about his story that prompted Judy to break the pleasant quiet.

"...You aren't the only one who wasn't fair though. I've only had one other boyfriend. And I sort of started the relationship knowing that it would probably end badly, if only subconsciously."

Nick let out his own, knowing "hmm."

"I guess something is destined to fail if it's rotten from the onset," said Judy. "It was late high school when I met Billy. Or, more accurately, he met me. He was absolutely smitten with me. And I liked him. Well enough, anyway. People always said we looked like the perfect couple. But, deep down, we just wanted different things. And he was very...Traditional."

"Ah. This already has an unhappy ending, Carrots."

Judy covered her face. "You know how I get about my police work. But Billy certainly didn't understand why I had to go to community college outside of the burrows for my career. Or why I even wanted to be an officer of law when the Hopps own one of the biggest farms in the state. And he got very clingy at the end before I left him for school."

Judy let out a heavy sigh, recalling just how taxing her first year of college was.

The chaos of traveling across state, coupled with a bad breakup, made her freshman year particularly difficult. Not to mention the guilty memory of seeing a pair of drooping rabbit ears watching her leave from the train station.

"He's doing fine now," she said. "Last I heard, he married and had like thirty kids of his own. But...I dunno. There's always that bad taste in your mouth. You know? But it's like...How can you expect a relationship to succeed if there are problems at the core? I know it was probably for the best. But a part of me always wonders if I'm a bad person for not giving it a fair try in the moment."

"You're not. Sometimes things don't work out. You wanted different things. Happens all the time."

"Well...I guess I'm happy at least one thing did work out."

Judy gave Nick's paw another squeeze before pulling him along to the honeycrisp tree at the end of the row.

She had all but forgotten about the tree marked by the heart carved into the bark with the initials J.H. and B.Y. at its middle. The wood had healed well from the knife and the lines were already starting to fade to the untrained eye. But Judy could still see the message, clear as day.

"Well," she said. "Here it is. My apple tree."

Being a fox in the burrow, Judy was used to seeing Nick tower over most things around the town. Even her apple tree didn't look nearly so big next to him. Though he still wouldn't be able to reach the top, even on his tippy toes.

"Shorter than I thought," he commented.

"Shush you. Anyway, depressing backstories aside...You said you wanted to see it, so here it is."

Nick looked it up and down with a smile. He was genuinely pleased with what he saw.

"There are still some apples left up there," he pointed out the few resting at the very top branches. "Wanna get em?"

Judy rubbed at her sore hip. "I think I've had enough climbing trees for one day."

"You don't need to climb any trees. You only need to climb me."

Nick released her paw and pressed his back against the trunk of the tree. He then held his own paws together in a makeshift step like he wanted to give her a boost.

"You can't be serious…"

"Aw, come on. It's perfectly safe. Don't you trust me?"

"You barely passed enormous criminals training in the academy, and you want to try lifting me in the air?"

"Yup! It'll be fun."

"No thanks, Nick…"

At first, Judy thought Nick was going to try to taunt her again with another challenge or a sleight on her bravery. But after staring blankly at each other, he just shrugged and dropped his pose.

"Eh. I'm getting cold anyway. You're right. If we want apples, we can just get them at your family's stands."

Judy watched Nick's back as he stepped away from the tree, heading towards the path for home. Though she still caught a glimpse of something somber in his eye before he turned around.

She let out a soft sigh before preparing to go into a sprint.

"Dumb fox…"

Nick yelped when Judy collided into him.

She then scrambled for his shoulders and tugged at his ears to better position herself into comfortable seating, planting the back of his head between her thighs.

"If you wanted fresh apples from the tree," she grumbled into his ear. "Why didn't you just say so from the beginning?"

"I didn't want to be a bother," he mumbled back, with her foot in his face.

"You're not a bother if you _want_ something, dumb fox. Sometimes it's okay to open up a little. You know?"

Nick went quiet for a moment.

"Sorry, Carrots. You're right. I need to try harder at that."

"So long as you remember it with me. Now, move to the left."

Judy was directing him by fondling at his ears like they were a pair of joysticks and she was operating a crane. Nick lurched closer to the trees by her command. Close enough for her to reach the lowest hanging fruit. It was one with a funny looking shape and color, half red and half yellow. But otherwise unblemished.

She grabbed, twisted, and pulled it skyward until it popped free into her palm.

"There," she said as they stepped back from the tree. "Worm check."

Nick sniffed at the apple as she dangled it in front of his snout before giving the thumbs up to signal the all clear.

"Smells good to me."

"Well, it's not perfect," she said, dropping it fully into Nick's paw.

"It doesn't have to be to still be good."

"I guess you're right," Judy smiled as she rested atop of Nick's head, content to listen to him munch on her apple.

He took one big chomp before holding it up for her to nibble on. She happily took a bite of his offer. Savoring the crisp taste of fall and the wind rustling through the dried leaves that still remained on the trees.

And there was no sweeter fruit to be had

* * *

 **Hope that pulls at the heartstrings for you all this fine Saturday.**

 **This was fun! I might do a few more short stories**

 **To those interested in future projects, the next big story I'm working on the Punk of Podunk will probably be ready sometime in 2018. It's a role reversal AU with a somber tone to it and plenty of music. See you then!**


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